


Bedroom Antics

by BlueFireFly35



Category: Dawson's Creek
Genre: F/M, Horny Teenagers, Kissing, Mention of body parts, Season/Series 03, Second base making out, Sexual Tension, Suggestive Themes, Swearing, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 00:49:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8124208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFireFly35/pseuds/BlueFireFly35
Summary: This is set in Season Three. From episode 18 Neverland, where Pacey's attempt to tell Dawson he's fallen for Joey during their camping trip, goes badly, and ep 19 Stolen Kisses where Pacey goes to Aunt Gwen's for Spring Break with the gang anyway and he and Joey end up sharing a bed. Here's my alternate version.





	

"Come on, then Pacey. Spit it out. It's obviously something important."

"Yes." Pacey agreed, emphatically. "That it is. Okay, um, whew!" He expelled a rush of pent up air. "Where to start? Okay, do you remember a few months back when Joey and I were taking those dance classes? And you had the idea that Joey and I were..."

"Yeah," Dawson laughed. "I don't know where my head was at, thinking you and Joey were doing it. Really stupid, huh?" He frowned in puzzlement. "Why'd you ask?" 

"Uh,' after a pause, 'okay, that's not such a good example." Pacey muttered to himself. "Okay, let's go a little further back."

"Are you okay, Pacey? Cos you seem really nervous. You're talking really fast and waving your hands around the way you do when-"

"Dawson! Would you let me get this out, please?"

"Alright, alright. Go ahead." He laughed, indulgently. Pacey certainly was in a tizz about something. The last time he remembered seeing him so on edge was when he'd been almost sick with the anticipation of seeing Andie again after the summer.

"Okay, so...um... do you remember way back in tenth grade when I asked you if I could kiss Joey?" Pacey eyed him warily.

"Uh...' Dawson's amused expression fell slightly, 'yeah. I kinda 'ummed' and 'ahhed' over that, didn't I?"

"Well, more you said yes, then no, then yes again." Pacey's attempt at a laugh came out more like a strained grunt. He glanced back behind them, to check on the kids. Buzz, the precocious nine year old he was mentoring, and his two friends were happily playing sword fighting in front of the dilapidated old fort that he and Dawson had built here in the woods when they were no older than Buzz. Pacey looked at that old fort, travelling down the years, remembering how close he and Dawson had been and what fun they'd had coming here. Dawson speaking again brought him back to the present.

"And then I said no again. Couldn't fathom why at the time."

"Well, I actually gave you the reason. You just didn't want to see it."

"At least it didn't take too long after that for me to realize she was everything I'd wanted in a girl. And to think she'd been right there under my nose all along. What?"

Pacey looked stricken for a moment, frozen to the spot. He continued slowly. "What I really wanted to ask you, Dawson, was...uh...do you remember saying to me at the time, 'my two best friends kissing, what could be better than that?"

Dawson's laugh rang with a faint hollowness. "This is a real trip down memory lane, Pacey. What-"

"Dawson, I know I'm making a bit of a hash of this, but would you stop being oblivious for once and actually listen to what I'm trying to tell you!" Pacey's hand waving had gone crazy and his eyes lifted from the ground to bore into Dawson's. He sighed heavily. Dawson looked long and hard into Pacey's face. His eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth dropping.

"Yes, I remember telling that, too, but..." he said slowly.

"Hold on a sec, and do you remember the beginning of this school year, you know, that whole temptress Eve thing and how you asked me to look after Joey for a couple of days?" He rushed on as Dawson's brows came down darkly. "Which I duly did, man. Like the loyal friend you've marked me out to be. But you know...Jo and I have been hanging out a lot lately since then..." Finally he faltered.

"Go on." Dawson's voice was cold.

"It didn't take much for me to fall in love with her, man."

They stood facing each other. An observer wouldn't have been able to tell whether they were two adversaries readying for a fight or two old friends engrossed in intimate conversation.

"Loyal friend, huh?" Dawson bent to pick up his bike and started leading it away.

"Bye Dawson!" Buzz ran over. "Are we going now, Pacey?"

"Give me a sec, buddy. Go back and play."

"Are you two fighting?" Pacey splayed his hand out over the top of Buzz's head and smartly turned him around. 

"I'll call you guys when I'm ready to go." Buzz turned to scowl at him then ran back over to his friends. Pacey followed Dawson.

"Dawson!" Pacey called and was ignored. "Dawson, man!"

Dawson thrust his bike to the ground and turned to face Pacey. 

"What do you want, Pacey? For me to give you my blessing? To say go ahead and have your shot with Joey? It'll be a long, cold day in hell before you get that!"

"It wasn't planned, you know."

"Have the both of you been sneaking around behind my back?"

"No."

"But you did kiss her?"

"Yes, but nothing else has happened. I wanted to talk to you first."

"First?" Dawson bit out furiously. "After you'd already kissed her?"

"Sometimes you just can't help the way you feel. I was hoping you'd understand-"

"Understand what? That you've tried to muscle in on the girl I told you was my soul mate, my muse, my everything? What else of mine do you want, Pacey? My parents, my home life? It's not as if you don't already covet those things!"

"That's not fair, man." Pacey's voice was small and quiet compared to Dawson's rant, a sad, knowing resignation in his face.

"No?" he strode over to Pacey, invading his body space, threateningly. 

“I love her. I always have, and-"

"Correct me, if I'm wrong, Dawson, but you didn't even notice she was a girl until I let you in on that fact." There was a deadly quiet quality to his voice that Dawson didn't recognize, boiling in his own anger as he was.

"You arrogant-"

"You didn't realize that fact until I wanted her." Pacey gave a short, bitter laugh. "You didn't realize that fact until she was all prettied up and in your face on stage for the Miss Windjammer beauty contest."

"But it was always me she wanted, Pacey." Dawson sneered in retaliation. "You seem to be forgetting that one fact and if you had any idea how furious I am right now, you'd be keeping your mouth shut!" He stepped back a pace. "Joey and I are just beginning to realize that we miss being in each other's lives the way we used to be. I'm not going to let you screw that up!" He stomped back over to his bike, picking it up.

"Dawson-"

"You must have known you had no hope of a chance." He continued, with the kind of inbred arrogance that was never far from the surface. 

"Joey and I are meant for each other. That's an implicit, unspoken understanding between Joey and I."

"Does Joey know that?" 

"Did she declare undying love for you after you kissed her?"

Pacey was silent.

"I didn't think so. It stops here, Pacey." Dawson mounted his bike and readied himself to push off.

"Just like that, huh, Dawson? What am I supposed to do?"

"Stay away from her! And me!" He threw at him before cycling off, leaving Pacey to stare after him. He breathed in deeply, his chest rising high, before expelling the air heavily through his nostrils, and swallowing hard. "Well,' he murmured, 'that went pretty much how I expected."

"Are you ready now?" Buzz flung himself at Pacey from behind.

""Yeah, little man" he sighed. "We can go now." 

"You guys were fighting, weren't you?"

"No."

"Yeah, right."

"Come on, let's go." 

Buzz was coming back to Doug's with him but they had to make a stop for supplies at the store first and Pacey pondered his fight with Dawson all the way there as he dropped off Buzz's friends at their respective homes. 

Well, Pacey mused, albeit with a heavy heart, Doug's brotherly advice hadn't been half bad. Take Dawson to a place filled with good memories of the friendship they had and then tell him about his feelings for Joey. With any luck, Dawson would be okay about it. It had made some sense.

Pacey decided to stop off at the store for snacks, trying to keep an eye on Buzz while lamenting his current situation.

After mentioning that the old fort they'd built as kids was going to be torn down, he'd been glad that Dawson had suggested camping out there one last time. It hadn't helped that just as he was about to tell Dawson about his calamitous breakdown over Joey Potter, Buzz and his mates had gate-crashed them. 

Never mind that he'd been relieved. Why? He knew Dawson. He'd bet he knew Dawson better than Dawson knew himself. That's why he'd been so nervous, because despite the hope that Dawson's response would prove his fears wrong, Pacey had dreaded what he expected Dawson's reaction would be. A typical Dawson reaction. That's partly why last night, while the boys slept, he'd chickened out of telling him that he'd fallen for Joey, and worse still, that he'd already kissed her! 

Pacey wandered down the aisle, perusing a variety of potato chips. How could he have told him, though? Dawson had waxed lyrical as they lay in their sleeping bags by the campfire about how much his friendships meant to him. How he could always be sure of Pacey and Joey's place in his life. As if his roles for them in his cinematic vision of life was the be all and end all of everything. Didn't they get a say?  
And what else had he said? Oh yeah, how he'd be lost without them, Pacey as his loyal friend, the blood brother from the pact they made as kids and Joey as his conscience, inspiration and soul mate. He felt sorry for the girl having all of that laid on her. She had a lot of living up to his expectations to do, but then Dawson was what she wanted. Always had been, hadn't he? And so, without knowing it, Dawson had laid one hell of a guilt trip on him. So, Pacey had said nothing and had gone to sleep feeling the awful crush of disappointment and regret lying on his chest. But with the light of day, he had been determined to show some faith in his friend, to tell him the truth and maybe actually get a favourable reaction. He'd wanted to do it before they left camp, while the warm and fuzzy memories were still working in his favour. Besides, it wasn't his style to back down from a challenge or an unpleasant job. Fat lot of good it had done him...

 

Stumbling out of the store, Pacey gulped in the fresh air. Man! She was beautiful. Joey was in the store. He and Buzz had bumped into her and with his stomach churning he could hardly talk properly to her. Was she blind? Wasn't it written all over his face how utterly and foolishly in love with her he was? He’d sent the mischievously grinning Buzz off to buy something before telling Joey that kissing her had been a mistake. Of course, she agreed, and that it needn't be spoken of again and everything could go back to normal between them now. He didn’t want to lose his friendships. They were all he had. They shook on it. Her small, warm hand fitted into his larger one as if it belonged there. And that was that. 

He had never stood a chance anyway.

********** 

"So?"

"So what?"

"Have you asked Pacey, yet?"

"Asked him what?" Dawson's eyes never left the television screen.

"About coming to Aunt Gwen's with us for spring break?"

"Uh, no...I haven't managed to get round to it."

"We're going in a few days, Dawson. Don't you think you should?" Joey was lying on his bed next to him, having lost all interest in the film they were watching ages ago. She looked at him with a puzzled frown. Seeing it as he glanced at her, he tried to give her his attention.

"I haven't seen much of him since we went camping actually." He offered this information as casually as he could. "Besides, I don't think it's Pacey's thing."

"He's been before."

"Yeah, but he's not in sixth grade anymore."

"It'll be fun to have the whole gang there. Jack and Andie are coming."

"But Jen isn't. She's giving Henry some undivided attention. I really don't think Pacey will be up for it."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Nothing. Why?"

"I don't know." A pause. Joey watched the TV with him in silence for a minute or so. Then when she couldn't take it anymore she pulled a face. She turned and swung her legs off the bed. Dawson grabbed her arm. 

"Where are you going?"

"Ow! Dawson!" Joey pulled her arm away rubbing the spot where he'd gripped her.

"Sorry, sorry. Where are you going?"

Gesturing towards the TV screen, "Dawson, you'll have to forgive me, but I lost the plot on this one a long time ago. I might as well go round and ask Pacey myself if he wants to come with us to Aunt Gwen's." 

"Jo, you can't go yet. You could at least finish watching the film with me!"

"It's boring!"

"But I told you I really don't think Aunt Gwen's is going to be Pacey's thing!"

"The sooner we ask him, the sooner we'll know that. What is wrong with you?" 

"Okay, fine." Dawson said over brightly, and his attention was back on the screen. "See ya later."

"Okay." Joey slid off the bed, throwing Dawson a weirded out look, he didn't seem to notice. 

She took her usual route out of the window, striding across the roof to climb down the ladder at the side of the house. When she got to Pacey's house no one answered her knock on the door so she slipped round to the back of the house. When she caught sight of Pacey, she scuttled back out of view round the corner. She peered round. He was chopping wood. Half naked. His torso shone slick with sweat. Dry mouthed, she watched the play of muscle and tendons in his arms and back as he swung the axe with deadly accuracy. Block after block, with a tightly controlled yet intense precision. Strewn around the yard were what seemed like dozens of pieces of wood. He'd obviously been working hard. Joey bit back a gasp as he suddenly flung the axe to the ground, staring down moodily at it for a moment. Then he picked up his discarded T-shirt from the ground beside him, swiping it around his face and neck before taking determined strides back into the house, leaving the fruits of his work around the yard. 

Joey frowned, leaning back on the wall, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. Something was wrong. Maybe now was not the best time to ask him anything. She started to walk back the way she came. Maybe he needed to talk to someone. Would he talk to her? Despite the agreement that their kiss was a mistake, their few meetings at school, since bumping into each other at the store after his camping trip, had been a little awkward. He'd managed to disarm the tense atmosphere each time though and make her laugh. He'd always been good at making a smile fight through to her face.

Joey walked back around the house, hesitated at the front door, cursing herself for being a coward. She stood there for what seemed like ages, before determinedly entering the house. She called out, but there was no answer. She mounted the stairs. As she came to the top of the landing, she heard the faint sound of the shower going in the bathroom. What now? She bit her lip with indecision, trying to ignore the quiver that laced through her at the thought of Pacey naked and wet in the shower. She groaned, silently. Since their kiss, her thoughts about him had hit the x-rated certificate. Just as she turned, deciding to leave and come back later, the bathroom door opened. Pacey came out, his head covered by the towel he was using to vigorously rub his hair dry. Fortunately, he wore a long bath towel knotted around his hips. He was heading for his bedroom. She could still leave before he realized she was here. Instead, she heard herself call out his name. Pacey stopped dead, dragging the towel from his head and stared at her.

"Hey!"

"Hey, um...I can come back later if you're busy..."

"No, I'm not busy. What can I do for you?" He went into his bedroom, forcing Joey to follow.

He rubbed at his torso then went back to his hair. Joey swallowed on a dry throat at the flexing of muscles in his arm and shoulders. He stopped abruptly to peer at Joey from beneath the towel. She still hadn't answered him. He raised his eyebrows encouragingly.

"Uh, I just came over to ask you if you had anything planned for spring break." She rushed out. He pulled the towel away from his head. His hair now stuck up in an array of different directions. He tossed it on the bed and went over to his wardrobe - which was behind Joey and to her left. Which meant he had to brush past her. She sidestepped out of his way, watching as he pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans. 

"Why? What's happening?"

"Well, we're going to Aunt Gwen's-"

"You and Dawson?" Pacey slowly slipped his arm into one sleeve of the shirt, his eyes on the floor.

"Jack and Andie are coming, too. Dawson's been meaning to ask you all week. He just never got round to it."

"Right." Pacey gave a short, dry laugh. His other arm now entered the other sleeve and he shrugged the shirt on. "Does Dawson know you're here?" 

"Yeah, I've just come from his place. He was a bit annoyed because he wanted me to stay and finish watching a film with him."

"Oh."

"So...you in or out?"

"I don't think I can make it."

Joey felt the disappointment sharply and tried to ignore it.

"What does Dawson know that I don't?"

"Huh?"

"Well, he was really adamant that you wouldn't want to come."

"I'll bet he was." Pacey muttered, attempting to button up his shirt.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing." He said, forgetting his unbuttoned shirt as he looked out of the window. It was almost as if he was trying to avoid looking at her and she could feel the awkwardness between them. She sighed heavily. She knew what this was about.

"Look, Pacey. We talked about this."

"About what?" He crossed over to his dresser, pulled open a drawer and pulled out a pair of plain black boxers. His hand went to the knot of the towel at his hip and he raised an eyebrow at Joey. Blushing, she turned her back on him. She heard the towel drop to the floor and closed her eyes. 

"About what, Jo?" Pacey asked her again.

She couldn't remember. It had gone completely out of her head. She was too distracted by the thought of Pacey pulling on his pants, and the rustling of his clothes as he slid them on only enhanced her racy thoughts.

"Uh..."

"Okay, you can turn around now."

She did so, hoping that the colour in her cheeks weren't too obvious. 

"Things are supposed to be back to normal between us Pacey. You know... after what happened. I think coming to Aunt Gwen's with us will be fun. Don't you?"

"Oh yes, it'll be a regular bundle of laughs." He buttoned up the fly of his jeans.

"What's wrong with you?" she snapped. "Are you going to let one stupid kiss ruin our friendship?"

"Yeah, it was stupid, alright. What the hell was I thinking?" 

"Pacey, what is it?" Joey moved forward and laid a hand on his forearm. Pacey shook it off as if he'd been burned. Joey stared at him, stung by the rebuff.

"What's the matter, Pacey? Did I dent your pride? Did you expect me to swoon and fall to your feet drooling over one pathetic kiss? Huh? What? Were you hoping I'd be so overcome that I'd do it with you right there? Hmm? Dream on!"

"Yeah because you couldn't in a million years be hot for me, could you?" His eyes bored into her and her face flamed under the stare. He was angry. Furious, in fact, his eyes a stormy grey-blue. "Why would Joey Potter give the town fuck up a second thought, huh? Especially, when she's the property of Dawson Leery."

Joey shook her head, warily. She didn't know where all this was coming from and she wasn't sure she wanted to confront it, but he was wrong. He wasn't the town fuck up and she did have the hots for him. She ducked her head, suddenly afraid that her thoughts were reflected in her eyes.

"I don't belong to anybody. Least of all Dawson Leery." Her head shot up at Pacey's derisive laugh. "What is this about, Pacey?"

One long stride brought his body a hair's breath away from her own and when she made to step back he caught her arms. 

"This," he whispered huskily and his mouth came down on hers. Joey moaned into his mouth and he moaned back. Her hands slid up his bare chest inside his shirt. His hand came up into her hair, cupping the back of her head, controlling the kiss, deepening it, the other sweeping down her back and pulling her body into his. Joey felt like she was drowning, the excited pump of her heart drumming in her ears as she luxuriated in the smooth satin feel of his skin under her fingers, the solid warmth of his body against hers and the unmistakable thrust of an erection making itself known. Her eyes fluttered open to find his heated blue gaze, pupils wide, staring straight back at her. The stark open desire in his eyes jolted her, overwhelmed her. She jerked back, freeing herself, shaking her head wordlessly. Pacey sighed, raked a hand through his hair and turned away.

"Go home, Joey."

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, I am. Go home."

Joey moved towards the door. She stopped and looked at him.

"So, you're not coming to-"

"No,' he clipped out, his eyes narrowed on hers, 'Dawson doesn't want me there and I can't believe that you do, too."

"I do!" She bit her lip as the words escaped her mouth.

"Why?"

Silence.

"Do we have something here, Jo?" He swallowed hard, but his face was guarded, hiding his fragile hope. The tense moment hung in the air, awaiting her response and then faded as Joey's eyes slid away and his closed briefly in disappointment.

"Pacey,' she hesitated, her heart felt funny, heavy, 'we don't want…' she struggled to find the words, 'I mean, what about Andie-"

"You seem to forget, Andie and I are not an item anymore."

"No, but-but...Dawson-"

"And neither are you and Dawson, but no, we mustn't forget Dawson, must we? This is really what it's all about."

"Please don't start that again."

"It's true, isn't it? We mustn't upset Dawson's world, must we?"

"How can you talk like that? He's your friend. Your best friend!"

"No, he's your best friend. For now anyway. When do you think you guys will hook up again?"

"We're not." Joey threw him a puzzled frown.

"I think Dawson might have different ideas. And I'm sure you'll run along with them!"

"I'm tired of your snide remarks. I'm going!"

"Good-bye!"

"You can be a real asshole, you know!" She stomped over to the door.

"And you're a coward!"

She turned back. Their eyes meshed. His eyes dared her to deny it. She said nothing. She turned to leave.

"Do you remember the reason why you broke up with Dawson the first time round, Jo?"

She stopped, keeping her back to him.

"I do. You told Dawson you wanted to find yourself, remember? You said you didn't know where he ended and where you began. That was two years ago, Jo and here you are, still too scared to strike out on your own, free of Dawson." He saw her body tense up. "Nothing's changed. You're still an extension of him."

She turned and faced him and he saw the tears brimming in her eyes. 

"And if I free myself, I get to find you, Pacey? I should exchange  
Dawson for you?"

"No,' he shook his head sadly, 'but at least any decisions you make won't be made behind Dawson tinted glasses. At least then I'd know that your rejection of me, of us, was all you and nothing to do with him."

"Since when has there been an us, Pacey?" She threw at him. "You're the town fuck up, remember? Why would I, in a million years want anything to do with you!" She wanted the words to hurt because his comments had pierced her to the quick. He was right. She was a coward and she wasn't free of Dawson.

She saw her words hit their mark in the almost imperceptible flinch of his body. And she was sorry. Her gaze softened and he accepted the tentative apology they contained.

"We can't do this Pacey. We were right the first time round. It would be a-a mistake. We're all friends. Why upset our little universe needlessly? Let's put today under that hormonal glitch excuse, too. Okay?" She asked anxiously. 

He nodded. "See you after spring break, Joey." He said, softly.

She nodded and after a last lingering look, she was gone.

************ 

Before going to bed they had squabbled. 

Joey had balked at having to share a bed with Pacey, especially in light of the earth shattering kiss they'd shared a couple of weeks previously. Even though they had both agreed that it was a mistake and meant nothing. Then last week they'd argued and he'd kissed her again, leaving her stunned and bewildered. Again. He'd been adamant though, that he wasn't coming to Aunt Gwen's for spring break, but he'd surprised her by turning up with his old school friend, Will Krudski, in tow. It had angered her. Confused her and scared her. She hadn't forgotten what he'd said about Dawson and how she lived her life through him, needed his approval for everything, put him before everything else - and worse had never made good on her desire to find herself. To find out where Dawson ended and she began.

Tonight, she and Pacey were the last to come to bed and found Will, Andie and Dawson already in sleeping bags on the floor, so she'd tried to get him to do something about it. She hadn't even wanted to consider the possibility of sharing a bed with him. Pacey had, a touch reluctantly she'd noted, crouched down beside Dawson in his sleeping bag, and tried to persuade him and their other friends to change sleeping partners. Not that she really wanted to share with Dawson, either, but even that had to be better than cosying up in the same bed as Pacey. Andie's response was a deep snore, Dawson, half asleep, had looked over at Andie, then given Pacey the weirdest look before flopping back down back into sleep. Will refused flat out to share with Pacey or Joey, he didn't know her well enough. So no luck. Then gazing down at Pacey's bent head, she'd found her eyes drawn to the expanse of his back and shoulders, noticing the fine contours of muscle beneath the vest and the sliver of bare skin exposed between the hem of his vest and the top of his pants that were riding dangerously low as he crouched over Dawson. She averted her eyes, sliding back up, skimming over his arms and biceps and alighted on the area below his ear. The skin there looked smooth and kissable. She wondered if Pacey found that area as much of an erogenous zone as she did? Dawson had pressed his lips to hers a few times in the past, but never lingering.

She gave herself a mental shake. She had to curb these wayward thoughts about Pacey. Nothing could come of them and she felt her temper flaring. Dammit! Why hadn't Andie got into the bed? Leaving a sleeping bag for Pacey? Surely, she couldn't have thought that she and Dawson would share? That didn't make sense. Joey hadn't shared a bed with Dawson in over a year now. They weren't kids anymore. 

So, when Pacey straightened up saying they were just going to have to make the best out of a bad situation she'd felt the stinging barbs on the tip of her tongue ready to fly. She didn't want to share a bed with him! Hadn't she made that clear enough? She warned him anyway, in case he hadn't got the message. Then she'd almost changed her mind about the flying barbs when he ordered her to get into bed and get over herself - as if he hadn't the slightest inclination of wanting to touch her up in bed. She thought it wiser to keep her mouth shut. She could handle this. Of course, she could. No big deal. She'd keep her bathrobe on, though. It just felt...safer to. 

After a slight tussle with the covers, they'd settled down on their respective sides of the bed in disgruntled silence. She'd lain prone in the same uncomfortable position, as she didn't want to stray anywhere into Pacey's personal space. But she couldn't sleep, hence the reason why an hour later she was in dire need of relieving her uncomfortable position. Discarding the bathrobe ages ago hadn't helped. She was cooler now, but sleep hadn't come to rescue her.

Andie was snoring softly. Will had murmured incoherently in his sleep twice and Dawson had twisted and turned several times. All of this Joey had noted of her sleeping friends on the floor since getting into bed. And across the bed from her, she could hear soft, deep breathing from Pacey and decided it was probably safe enough to turn over now. Slowly and carefully, she shifted position, grimacing at the stiffness in her body, until lying on her left side she found herself staring at Pacey's back. He was practically hugging his edge of the bed, lying as far away from her as was possible. The curtains weren't drawn so the full moon outside, coupled with the dim hallway light shining through the glass of the bedroom door, left plenty of light in the room to see everything fairly clearly. That included Pacey across the bed from her. She let her eyes travel down the length of his body and back up again. The covers were rumpled about his hips leaving the top half of his body on view in his vest. She couldn't resist wandering over the muscles in his arms and shoulders and up to the back of his neck again to that tantalizing spot behind and a little below his right ear. She stared hard. 

Who was she trying to fool? It wasn't just that her body was stiff and uncomfortable. It wasn't that she'd been too hot in the bathrobe. It was the boy lying a few feet away from her playing on her mind - and her body. She hadn't been able to think of anything or anyone else but him and that damn kiss since it had happened - and now the first kiss had been eclipsed by the second one. It had set her belly on fire, stoked up a red, hot heat between her thighs. When she played it back in her head, her imagination took over and galloped away from her, embellishing the whole vision. The kiss became longer, deeper, more passionate, their hands wandered, their bodies pressed closer. She wanted him so badly. It was driving her mad! Why the hell had he kissed her? Worse still, why had she let him? She glared evilly at the back of his head. Because she had to admit, she had let him - and had enjoyed it. Not that she was ever going to admit that to anyone. No way! Especially, not Pacey. He was bigheaded enough already. She had no idea how Andie had put up with him as his girlfriend. 

Maybe Pacey was good at sex...

Joey swallowed as her treacherous imagination slid the insidious thought into her mind. He probably was, she conceded. Miss Jacobs must have been satisfied to continue an affair with him and Andie had been head over heels in love with him. There was more to Pacey Witter than met the eye, it seemed. 

She looked over at him again. Not that she could see it properly right now, but he did have a cute butt. A very cute butt. But that was something else she'd never concede to him in a million years. Especially as he already knew it and had bragged about it on more than one occasion. Joey rolled her eyes. Then sighed. It was no use trying to pump up his faults. Last week Pacey had looked anything but cocky. He'd looked resigned, sad, and angry. Joey pushed that image away. She didn't want to think about that, and how it had made her heart ache for him - and herself.

Her gaze moved back up to his upper body. Strayed to that spot near his ear again. The impulse was strong. The thought was in her mind before she knew it. She wanted to rest her lips in that exact spot. She wanted to slide her tongue against it. Really, just how smooth and firm would his skin feel beneath her mouth? And would he smell like Pacey? She'd caught a whiff when he'd kissed her the last time. A kind of fresh, tangy scent that was all him. Or maybe that was the soap he used! And if his skin was that smooth and firm would every inch of his body feel the same? Joey's breathing came in short shallow pants that she was barely aware of as her thoughts ran riot. She gritted her teeth. How could she get rid of these feelings? 

She shifted position in bed. Inch by inch. Pausing, then shifting. Closer to Pacey. And, as if in slow motion, as if it belonged to someone else, she watched her hand rise and hover close to Pacey's neck. She snatched her hand away, squeezing her eyes shut. But when she opened them again, the temptation hit her full force.

He was asleep.

He'd never know.

She would satisfy an inexplicable urge.

And then that would be the end of it.

She slid her tongue over dry lips, heart pounding in her ears. She reached out tentatively, in her mind's eye remembering the look on Pacey's face before he'd kissed her the first time and the way the blueness of his eyes had darkened. With the lightest of touches, she slowly smoothed a forefinger and middle finger down the back of his neck from below his ear. She pulled away, expelling a fraught breath. It was smooth, like velvet. She did it again, this time gently gliding her fingers into his hair. It was springy, yet silky to the touch. She closed her eyes and leaned in a little, inhaling deeply. That same scent. She felt it waft its way right through her body and curl excitingly in the pit of her stomach. Becoming bolder, she left his hair and found herself curving a hand gently around one bicep, shaping the muscle there, then sliding up to shoulder level and then down to his elbow where his arm was bent across his body. Her hand lingered here before slipping further down to where bare skin flashed her below his vest.

God, she was a wanton hussy! She'd never felt so bold in her life and wondered whether she dared allow her hand to follow its natural path down over his stomach. Her hand slipped down an inch two, but losing her nerve, she reluctantly allowed her hand to slide away, still appreciating the firm skin beneath her fingers.

He feels beautiful, she thought. How funny was it that in all the time she'd pined for Dawson and even dated him she'd never wondered how his skin would feel beneath her hands and lips, or how smooth it would feel, how firm or muscled, how warm. Or if she could make him shiver with her touch. She had daydreamed forever about kissing him, and when they'd dated, she'd fantasized about what sex would be like between them, warm, fuzzy, half baked fantasies. Not the low down, hot and dirty, gritty kind of images she'd been imaging about herself and Pacey. How to explain that? Imagining Dawson's hands and mouth on her body had made her feel funny in the pit of her stomach, and along with that had come an expectation that when it happened between, when they eventually had sex, it would be tender, gentle and sweet. But when she dared think about herself and Pacey in such a situation - as she had been doing since their kiss last week, the raw hunger for it took her breath away. Pacey made her feel - Oh! Oh! Oh! He was moving! Was he going to turn over? Joey quickly scooted back and spied on him through squinted eyes, holding her breath.

He turned and settled, one arm bent beneath his head, the other across his front. Joey breathed easy again. She stared openly at him now. So, it was true. They all looked so boyishly innocent in their sleep. Her gaze traced his features, the brows that were so dark and well defined, his eyelids with their stubby lashes that hid expressive blue eyes, his fleshy nose that she'd teased him about on many an occasion, but which gave his face character, and his mouth above a stubborn chin. He had a nice mouth, thin but shapely. And she now knew that they were warm and firm, and very mobile. She flicked back up to graze the unruly dark hair and then down back to his face to find his eyes wide open staring back at her. Her heart skidded to a halt, then skittered erratically in her chest.

"Can't you sleep?" he asked, softly.

"Uh, just...um...kinda uncomfortable. Must be this strange bed," she muttered her eyes sliding away from his.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she asked, the sharpness in her tone raising her voice.

"Shh..."

"Don't shush me!" Joey huffed, but quietly.

"Do you want to wake our friends and draw attention to what we're getting up to in bed?"

"I think I liked you better when you were snoring and drooling in your sleep!"

"Snoring and drooling, huh? You sure about that?"

"Yeah, an ugly sight it was, too. Go back to sleep, Pacey!"

"Back to sleep? I've been lying here counting sheep for the past hour."

"Huh?" Joey said, stupidly, because she couldn't have heard him right. She never saw his hand snake out and grab her wrist. He was that quick. She was pulled up smartly against him, but managed to stifle her instinctive cry.

"Do I get to reciprocate?" There was that husky, intimate tone to his voice that did things to her stomach.

"I don't know what you're talking about!' She hissed, struggling weakly.

"Coward," he breathed, bringing his other hand out from under his head to bury it in her hair, gently stroking the back of her neck.

"What- I don't-" Joey spluttered, floundering because she'd been caught off guard.

"Why don't we just stop playing games, Jo?" he whispered. "You want me."

"Of all the-!"

"Yes, you do!" He told her fiercely. "I felt it in the way you touched me just now."

Joey felt herself grow hot all over with embarrassment and squirmed against him and then froze as she felt his hard erection against her body. She felt all the breath leave her body as if she'd been punched.

"Yeah, and I want you. I was scared to admit it before. I wanted it to go away. I didn't want to upset the status quo. I didn't want to upset Dawson's world."

"Pacey please don't say-" she gasped, trying to keep her voice down so as not to awaken their friends.

"But I couldn't deny it anymore. I didn't plan to kiss you, but I've wanted to for a very long time, Jo."

She closed her eyes, letting his words wash over her.

"I just got overwhelmed and went for it. But I don't regret it. Not for a second. And last week it was even better. You felt so good in my arms. Like you belonged there."

"Pacey..." He wouldn't give her a chance to speak. The words kept tumbling out of his mouth in an agonized rush, deep with emotion.

"I didn't just want to kiss your lips. I wanted to kiss you everywhere. Don't tell me you don't feel the same way. I won't believe you." He nuzzled into the crook of her neck and breathed into her ear.

"You want to kiss me like I want to kiss you. You want to touch me the way I want to touch you. And tell me you haven't been thinking about me the way I've been thinking about you, too, fantasizing about you. About the scent of your body, the warmth and smoothness of your skin...'

Joey's body began to tremble, and she didn't stop his hand from sliding around her waist to press her closer and as his hardness made more of an impression against her, she felt a deep tremor go through her. His soft words were hypnotic. Her hand crept over his waist and clutched at him.

'...the softness of your hair, fantasizing about you letting me touch you in all your beautiful, secret places, Jo." He felt her press up against his erection and he groaned. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he gasped. Then found her unresisting lips. 

Joey's hands came up to frame his face, and as the kiss deepened, they slid up, raking through his hair before sliding down to his chest, digging her nails in.

His hand cupped the back of her head, the other her bottom, moaning appreciatively as she raised a leg and slung it over his hip, allowing his cock even more intimate access against her.

"Joey...Joey..." he nibbled down her neck and along her collarbone as his hand on her hip came up to brush tentatively across one taut nipple. Joey arched wantonly against him and he pushed back, rolling his hips and while her hands played along the muscles in his back, lower and lower, his mouth dipped further and closed over her nipple through the thin material of her camisole top. 

"Mmm.."

"Shh, Jo," he half laughed, half groaned, kissing her mouth to stifle her.

If this was a dream, he never wanted it to end. He had Joey in his arms writhing against him, stabbing her tongue in his mouth and her hands kneading his butt. While he now, in a delirious haze lavished her nipples with his tongue, her thin top, soaking wet where he suckled hungrily. Best of all, or worse depending on how you looked at it, his cock was jammed hard between her legs, right up against her wet heat. The thin barrier of her pants and underwear were no barrier whatsoever. He wondered if she'd let him take her top off. He wanted to feel her skin against his tongue and he wanted-

Will cried out suddenly in his sleep. Pacey and Joey froze. When they heard no other movement or sound Joey pulled away from Pacey and scooted back over to her side of the bed pulling the covers up. She laid a hand over her heart and closed her eyes. 

Pacey watched her guardedly, trying to get his breath back. "Jo?"

"What the hell do we think we're doing?" she groaned. "God!"

Pacey exhaled heavily. His cock was throbbing, showing no signs of subsiding. He shifted position and fearing he was coming closer, her hand shot out to ward him off.

"Jo-"

"Suppose that had been Dawson waking up? Or Andie? Suppose they'd heard us or seen us?" She whispered harshly into the darkness.

"So you're taking it all back now?"

"I-I went crazy for a second. I-"

"Joey, if you're throbbing anywhere near as hard as I am right now then...

"You don't think this is mad, Pacey?"

"Oh fuck it!" He violently swung back the covers and slid out of bed.

"What are you doing?" she panicked, watching as he rounded the bed, carefully edging past the end of Dawson's sleeping bag. He stopped by her side and hissed in her ear.

"I'm going to the bathroom. Why don't you snuggle down into bed and try to convince yourself this was just one long nightmare? That way you can look Dawson in the face in the morning without your face going red with the guilt that you dared to get down and dirty with Pacey Witter!"

Joey bit her lip. And couldn't begin to analyze what she was feeling as she watched him pull the bedroom door open and go out. Throwing a quick glance at the prone bodies on the floor she got out of bed.

Pacey opened the bathroom door and was in the process of closing it when Joey pushed her way in past him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He glared at her and she saw he was furious. "Get out!"

"No!"

"Stop fucking around with my head, Jo!"

"Which one?" she shot back.

He stared at her, tempted for a second to smile at the clever retort. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and opened the bathroom door, intent on throwing her out. She pulled away and shut the door leaning against it, watching him.

"I can take a piss with you looking on if you want, you know."

"Is that what you really came in here to do?" She arched an eyebrow at the big tent in his pants. The fact that he was still hard and aching wasn't helping his temper.

"Fine. So, I need to take care of business. What the hell are you doing here?"

Now her eyes grew wary, but she didn't look away. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. 

"For what exactly?" His voice grew gruff.

"For pushing you away," she said. Then her voice lifted and wobbled with vulnerability. "But I get scared easy. You know I do," she whispered. 

Pacey nodded. He sighed, because he understood. He knew Joey, and it was no lie to say, better than Dawson did. But how was that going to help them in this situation? It sure as hell wasn't going to help him with the pressing problem in his pants. Joey was standing in front of him, her camisole wet around the nipples where his mouth had been, her pants riding low on her hips and she looked as sexy as hell with dishevelled hair and her mouth swollen from their kisses. Nope, his hard on was not going away. He was a stubborn fella!

"Jo, go back to bed. You're off the hook, okay? Let's forget this all happened." He turned his back on her.

"Pacey-"

"A little privacy please!"

"Maybe I don't want to be let off the hook," she said and then smoothed her arms around his waist clasping her hands together, and his cock jumped accordingly. He swallowed hard, determined not to be sucked in again. He tried to pry her hands loose, but she resisted. 

"Jo..." he said warningly, but now he was dangerously aware of the warmth of her body permeating his, of hard nipples poking into his back. She had plastered herself against him and his voice broke revealingly. He cleared his throat. "What's that supposed to mean?" he cursed the octave rise in his voice.

She tiptoed, her breasts sliding higher up his back and he felt her lips graze the skin behind his ear and trail down softly, copying the path her fingers had travelled earlier in bed when she'd thought he was asleep. They both felt the major tremor go through his body.

"What are you trying to do to me? I'm only made of flesh and blood, Jo-" 

Her hand came round and covered his mouth, cutting his words off. Then she turned him round. They gazed at each other for a long second. 

"Do-do we have something here, Jo?" His hand came up to frame her face, his thumb caressing her cheek as he repeated the question he'd asked her last week. She heard the riot of emotions in that one question; the fragile hope, the fear of rejection. And her heart swelled with emotion for him, because he never failed to put himself out there for her. He was willing to take a risk, while she was too scared to come out from hiding behind Dawson. But not anymore.

She leaned past him, closing the toilet seat lid and guided him back to sit on it. He looked up at her expectantly and expelled a heavy breath when she gingerly sat astride his lap, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I think we deserve something, don't you?" she told him with a shy lopsided smile. It encouraged a wary grin of his own as he slid his hands around her waist.

"Oh yes," he agreed readily, his confidence growing by the second as  
Joey's fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck. He gazed into her face with such intensity, she blushed.

She dipped her head and nuzzled into his neck. "No one's ever made me feel the way you do, Pacey," she whispered, solemnly. "It scares me."

"Look at me, Jo." She pulled back and looked at him beneath lowered lashes. He took her hands in his and looked earnestly into her eyes.  
"Listen, I'm here with you. I have no intention of letting you go, but you've got to trust me. More than that, honey, you have got to trust yourself and what you feel." 

She gave him a quizzical look and smiled.

"What?"

"You called me honey."

"Yeah."

"I liked it."

"You did, huh?"

She nodded, her eyes dancing.

"I can call you darling. Would you like that, too? And sweetheart. How about sweetheart?"

"Darling and sweetheart definitely work." She pulled a hand away to play with his hair, raking her hands through the unruly locks, brushing them back from his forehead.

"I kinda like baby. You think-"

"Uh, uh! Not baby!" Her hands stilled in his hair. 

Pacey chuckled.

"Yeah, it's got a bit of a bad rep, hasn't it? I want to know what you're gonna call me, though."

"Oh, I don't know...the word cocky comes to mind," she murmured and they both looked down.

"Hmm, Jo, I need to do something about that."

"Yes, we really need to." She leaned forward and caught his lips. His mouth opened and she slipped her tongue in, both her hands cradled the back of his head, pulling him forward into the kiss. She liked the way Pacey made her feel, wanton, powerful, and desirable.

And he liked this brazen version of Joey. He seconded that when her hands came down to hold his and guide them to her breasts. Gladly, he cupped them, moulded them in his palms, circling her nipples with his thumbs. She scooted further in, his cock nestled between her thighs. His fingers crept below her top, slowly raising it. When there was no demur, his mouth left hers to catch a naked nipple as he raised the top to her neck. Joey gasped, holding his head to her breasts.

"You like that, Jo?"

"Mmm hmm."

And Pacey went to town as she arched in to give him better access. He nibbled and licked, learning what every nuance of her moans and gasps meant; suckling and nipping as her grip grew tighter in his hair, pulling and brushing teasingly when she moaned for more.

"Joey?"

"Mmm..." she kissed his eyelids, his nose and then his mouth again before sucking on his neck.

"As-as much as I'm loving this - and Joey, I'm sooo loving this! We can't stay here all night. Jo? Jo, I-mmmfh!" he returned the kiss hungrily.

"Jo, I'm in serious agony here." He pulled back abruptly, but smiled with some measure of satisfaction and delight at the pouted disappointment on her swollen lips and the slightly glazed expression of desire in her eyes. "I've got to relieve this tension. So unless you'd like your mouth to travel further south..." he trailed off, rolling his eyes away with exaggerated innocence before swinging them back to her. She narrowed her own at him, her mouth twisting as she tried not to smile. Before she could speak though, he assured her he was joking.

"Oh, I know you are, buster." Her face flamed, nevertheless. She pulled her top back down self-consciously. 

"It's okay, Jo. I can think of better times and places to be even thinking of such things!" 

Joey nodded in agreement. "Pacey?"

"Yeah?"

"I do trust you."

"And you know you don't have to do anything you don't want to do, right?"

"I guessed that already. I'm looking forward to getting to know all the parts of Pacey Witter that I never knew before."

She sighed dramatically when Pacey waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, but giggled anyway. "I don't mean that!" She smacked him lightly on the arm."

"It's not gonna be easy, though," he sobered up, looking away over her shoulder. "Dawson isn't going to take this new development too well." 

He and Dawson had barely exchanged two words since he'd turned up with Will. It had been a long drive down to Aunt Gwen's, but when Joey had suggested that Pacey drive for a while, Dawson had refused, saying he was okay. 

"I know. But Pacey,' she paused, waiting for him to look at her and continued when he did, 'Dawson and I are over. And if I seem protective of his feelings, it's because of our friendship. He's always going to be important to me."

"Yeah. He's my best friend, too, Jo. But I know him and I don't think our blood brother friendship is going to mean too much to him when he finds out about us."

"You don't know that, Pacey."

Yes, he did. But Joey didn't. Obviously, Dawson still hadn't mentioned anything to her about their argument the morning after their camping trip. 

Pacey threaded his hand into her hair and allowed his fingers to slide out. 

"I think we can go back to bed now. All this talk of Dawson has done my job for me." His mouth twisted wryly and Joey gave him a warning glance before both their eyes dropped to their laps. She slid back off his lap and stood. "You go first."

Joey nodded and opened the bathroom door. She turned to look back at him, unable to hide the excitement in her eyes. "So we're really gonna do this, huh?"

"My heart is in your hands," he answered softly, and smiled gently. And after giving him, what she hoped was a reassuring smile she ducked out of the bathroom.

Pacey leaned back against the toilet. Never in a million years had he expected anything to happen between himself and Joey on this trip. He hadn't planned on going. But when it came to the crunch, he hadn't been able to stay away. He needed to be near her. It hadn't mattered that she'd nixed any probability of their hooking up. He just needed to breathe the same air she did and to hell with Dawson's hostility, but he'd just had the best night of his life and he hoped there were many more to come. He had dared to dream and dared to hope. Now he dared to believe this could work. Whatever problems arose they'd deal with them as they came. Right now, all he wanted to do was get into bed and fall asleep with Joey in his arms. He stood up and went back into the bedroom to do exactly that.

March 2003


End file.
